A massive police operation, understood to have involved around 300 officers, saw Queen Square cordoned off for the anti-Sharia demonstration and rally, which was joined by extreme right groups the English Defence League and South West Infidels.

Police cordon at Old Market roundabout

They marched from Temple Meads, down Redcliffe Way and over Redcliffe Bridge.

GAYS AGAINST SHARIA AND THE BRITISH AND IMMIGRANTS UNITED AGAINST TERRORISM PROTEST IN BRISTOL

Once inside the Queen Square cordon, a crowd estimated by police as being around 65, listened to Anne-Marie Waters, who is standing for UKIP leadership, and former EDL member Tommy English, the organiser of Gays Against Sharia, give speeches.

The organisers of the rally denied being on the “far right” of the political spectrum and Ms Waters claimed that the only fascists were the 'anti-fascist' demonstrators.

The Gays Against Sharia protest heads along Redcliffe Way with a police escort

Around 100 anti-fascist activists plus protesters from Bristol’s lesbian, gay, bi- and transgender community and Stand Up To Racism and Bigotry were kept together in Castle Park in a bid by police to separate the groups.

At one point those from the coalition of unions and anti-fascist groups made a surge around the Old Market roundabout to meet with the other group, but were fended off by police.

It is understood, although not confirmed with police, that there is where the arrests were made.

The counter protesters were ‘kettled’ in Castle Park and those who attended the protest said a woman had to be taken to hospital after being injured when she collided with a tree during a scuffle.

When the groups came to face to face, there were shouts of “fascist scum off our streets” and “how many of you are actually gay?” from the counter protesters.

At one point a woman with a large pink fancy dress claw lay down in front of the march in a bid to bring it to an end before she was picked up off the floor by officers.

One shouted at the police: “These are our streets. We live here. You are protecting neo-Nazis and we aren’t allowed to walk down our streets.”

Police used special powers in the city centre to ban banners, flags and placards that might incite disorder or hatred; anything that could be used to cause injury or damage and face coverings, masks or scarves used to conceal identities.

Counter-protesters are kettled in Castle Park by police to prevent them reaching the Gays Against Sharia demo(Image: Jon Kent)

A force spokesperson said afterwards:

"We would like to thank members of the public in Bristol city centre today for their patience and understanding while we facilitated a number of protests.

"A large intelligence-led operation was mounted to facilitate the events, with the underlying aim to ensure those working, living and visiting Bristol remained safe.

Chief Inspector Andy Williams said: “Overall the operation went well, with the vast majority of those involved behaving and following our request for peaceful demonstrations.

“Unfortunately there were a small number of counter-protestors who deviated from their pre-agreed route and who became disruptive.

“This led to a small amount of anti-social behaviour in the Old Market area which caused some congestion on surrounding roads while officers dealt with the situation.

“We’d particularly like to thank those motorists who were affected by this and apologise to them for any inconvenience.

“A total of five arrests were made during the day, four for assaulting police officers and one for obstructing them in their duties. “Violence and disorder will not be tolerated and we, as the public would expect, have been robust in tackling with those who have engaged in this behaviour.”

Amjid Ali, chair of the Bristol Independent Advisory Group, said:

“The way in which the local neighbourhood policing team have conducted this operation has been a great example of partnership working. “It is much appreciated by all the diverse communities of Bristol. Well done to all those involved in keeping everyone safe.”

A steel cordon erected by police around Queen Square in Bristol ahead of a protest by a group called Gays Against Sharia(Image: Jon Kent)

They later tweeted: “Officers managing today's protest have just arrested five men. Four for assaulting them and one for obstruction.

“Everyone has the right to protest peacefully and we will not tolerate any disorder.”

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Muslim Terrorism Count

Mission Overview

Most Western societies are based on Secular Democracy, which itself is based on the concept that the open marketplace of ideas leads to the optimum government. Whilst that model has been very successful, it has defects. The 4 Freedoms address 4 of the principal vulnerabilities, and gives corrections to them.

At the moment, one of the main actors exploiting these defects, is Islam, so this site pays particular attention to that threat.

Islam, operating at the micro and macro levels, is unstoppable by individuals, hence: "It takes a nation to protect the nation". There is not enough time to fight all its attacks, nor to read them nor even to record them. So the members of 4F try to curate a representative subset of these events.

We hope that free nations will wake up to stop the threat, and force the separation of (Islamic) Church and State. This will also allow moderate Muslims to escape from their totalitarian political system.

The 4 Freedoms

These 4 freedoms are designed to close 4 vulnerabilities in Secular Democracy, by making them SP or Self-Protecting (see Hobbes's first law of nature). But Democracy also requires - in addition to the standard divisions of Executive, Legislature & Judiciary - a fourth body, Protector of the Open Society (POS), to monitor all its vulnerabilities (see also Popper). 1. SP Freedom of SpeechAny speech is allowed - except that advocating the end of these freedoms2. SP Freedom of ElectionAny party is allowed - except one advocating the end of these freedoms3. SP Freedom from Voter ImportationImmigration is allowed -except where that changes the political demography (this is electoral fraud)4. SP Freedom from Debt
The Central Bank is allowed to create debt - except where that debt burden can pass across a generation (25 years).

An additional Freedom from Religion is deducible if the law is applied equally to everyone:

Religious and cultural activities are exempt from legal oversight except where they intrude into the public sphere (Res Publica)"